Udi from Diyphotography.net climbs the stairs in Vegas and just happens to walk past a strobe held to the rail with a Nasty Clamp just moments before security comes and kicks us out!

Well, it’s taken me a few weeks to recover, but I’m finally getting my wits back. CES / PMA this year was crazy. Not crazy like, “Wow, look at all this incredible new gear and gadgets.” There was some of that. However the show floor was dominated by iPhone cases. I’m not being silly. It was overwhelming how many iPhone case companies there were. This year CES had over 155,000 attendees and there must have been a different iPhone case made for each one.

Still, I had a great time, met lots of amazingly nice and talented folks. And the food was delicious! Oh, and there were some great gadgets and gear.

I shot quick pitch (around 30 sec) videos of all the gear and gadgets that I thought were cool on the show floor. You can see all 40 or so on my Youtube channel.

Here are my personal favorites:

The ioShutter: A high-tech shutter release cable and software for your iPhone.

Uncle Oswald: A retro phone that’s actually a bluetooth speaker. Soooo nice!

Clarity One Earphones: Earphones that are honestly the best I’ve ever heard. Incredible.

And BEST OF THE BEST… The Swivl: A tracking, motorized head to go on your tripod so you can be the star and the cameraman at the same time. Such a great idea.

I’ll have detailed reviews of all these cool products and more in the coming months.

Nice!

Are you as successful as you want to be with your photography? Film making? Music? Endangered animal shaped fudge collection? That success could be defined as artistically, financially, or popularity-ly – however you want to define it. Are you as successful as you want to be?

If you said, “No,” “Not really,” “Eh,” “That’s a depressing question,” or paused a moment before crossing your fingers behind your back and saying, “Sure,” then chances are it all comes down to one thing: a lack of preparation.

How dare you! – that’s what you’re saying at me now. But this is how dare I!

Below you will find a gripping Ted Talk video by magician David Blane – whom I was not very fond of before watching this – where he goes through his process of preparation. I guarantee you without hesitation or reserve that you (and most surely I) have not gone to this extent to prepare – for anything!

If I think if I prepared to this extent for any endeavor, I could succeed at absolutely anything. And so could you.

Nice!

My pals over at The Usual Shutter Specs brought this thought provoking video to my attention. In it Errol Morris – one of the greatest documentary film makers of all times – pontificates about just what Truth and Photography have to do with each other – if anything.

Do you think a photograph is truth if you come upon a scene and photograph as is? It could be. But the photograph was taken from a certian angle. At a ceritan distance. Items intentionally or unintentionally are cropped out. So without altering a scene it could easily represent a falsehood.

I am not a journalist. If you are a photo journalist then you journal with photos, so go ahead and have rules about not altering anything. But if I want to tell the truth with a photo I feel it is perfectly acceptable, even advisable, to alter the scene before me so that it best comunicates that truth.

How do you feel about Truth in Photography? Sound off in the comments below.

Nice!

Okay. This just doesn’t even look real. But it is. 100% real.

My pal Danny, maker of the incredible tripods – 3 Legged Thing – saw my last post about night photography and turned me on to this incredible work.

Landscapes: Volume Two from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

Video of day and night time time lapse photography from Dustin Farrell. Absolutely stunning!

Nice!

The above image is © Mark Weller and John Rummel and has got to be the most breathtaking long exposure night photo I have ever seen. I thought for sure it was a composite, but no. It’s the real deal. The photographers talk about the image in the video below.

Makes me want to get out there, put on some warm underwear and get shooting. Nice!

Flies taste delicious! It’s true. Do I personally know that rolling those velvety wings over my tongue and chewing those salty, crunchy little legs is a euphoric gastronomic experience?

Well, no.

I wouldn’t eat a fly. The thought of it makes me gag. What kind of disgusting monster do you think I am?

But you know who does eat flies? Spiders. They just can’t get enough of those 8,000 eyed floating protein bars. They eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack. When they have guests over for a BBQ? Yep, fly kabobs.

Why should we care? Because sometimes we take photographs, make films, write songs, or create some other form of art not just because we want to, but because we want it to affect someone or a group of someones.

It could be a portrait of a newborn for the happy – and tired – new parents. It could be a corporate headshot for a big shot real estate tycoon. It could be a product shot for some hot new photography accessory.

If your photograph, film, song, or grilled cheese truck is meant to do something specific to a specific audience, you may need to check your point of view at the door and you’ll definitely want to consider – dare I say even research – your target audience’s point of view. There’s a good chance it’s different than yours.

If you want to take a photograph that makes your audience care, you need to know what they care about. If you want to take a photograph that makes them want to buy something, it would help to know what triggers that response in that particular group. You’ll rarely know absolutely, but you can get very close with just a bit of extra work.

Shooting a cover for a Ukulele tribute album to the heavy metal band KISS? Ask your client who they expect to buy it. Don’t just take their first answer. Drill deeper. Now that you know who the audience is, find out what message your client wants them to get. With those two tidbits you can take your research to the nets. Read on line. Interview members of that audience. Try and see the project from their point of view, then bring in your experience and unique twist.

If you’re taking photographs for Arachnids – the fancy new uptown bistro that caters to the most elite eight legged diners – you better make sure there is a fly in your soup before you snap that shot.

You follow?

It may seam obvious, but it’s a place where even veteran photographers take short cuts. However, if you take the time to see the world from your intended audiences point of view, you’ll not only be wiser for the action, but be empowered to create something that will be electrically charged to carry your message right to your audience’s stomach.

Nice!